Selwyn Image CBE JP

Selwyn Image was born in Edgware, Middlesex in 1938. He lived all over London before being sent to Hong Kong to do his RAF national service, as a Chinese linguist. Selwyn attended Cambridge University, where he studied languages. It was a need to improve his spoken French which took him to Paris as a student, where he worked at an Emmaus community.

After returning to the UK, Selwyn spent the next thirty years forging a successful career in international marketing. He travelled the globe with firms including Reckitt & Colman, McKinsey Unilever and Schering, living in various cities from Chicago to Dusseldorf.

It was in 1989, while living in Cambridge that Selwyn noticed a rise in homeless people on the streets of the city and was inspired to bring Emmaus to the UK, setting up the first Emmaus community in the city. In only 21 years it has grown from one community to 24, spread across the UK. These communities provide a home and meaningful work for 600 formerly homeless people.

In 2008 Selwyn was awarded a CBE for his charity work. He is married to Jane and they live in Cambridge. He has four grown up children from previous marriages. Selwyn has co-written a business book on executive networking and composes carols in his spare time. He worked as a Justice of the Peace for ten years and is passionate about the social value of Emmaus.